Her Christmas Day message is posted on the popular video-sharing website for the first time as the 81-year-old British Sovereign, who is also Queen of Australia, historically (and stoically) continues to embrace advances in modern communications technology.

The message begins with footage from 1957 showing the Queen broadcasting on TV for the first time 50 years ago.

Now, the new royal link – www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel – went live just after midnight and features both archive and recent footage of the Queen with plans to add new clips regularly.

The Queen begins by noting from her long experience that, “One of the features of growing old is a heightened awareness of change. To remember what happened 50 years ago means that it is possible to appreciate what has changed in the meantime. It also makes you aware of what has remained constant”.

The Necker Cube is an ambiguous line drawing. It can be interpreted two different ways. When a person stares at the picture, it will often seem to flip back and forth between the two valid interpretations. The Necker Cube is an optical illusion first published in 1832 by Swiss crystallographer Louis Albert Necker.